


You Should Stay

by alluringpoehler



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Star Wars - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25257277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alluringpoehler/pseuds/alluringpoehler
Summary: Drabbles ranging from fluff to angst and everything in between.
Relationships: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Comments: 20
Kudos: 43





	1. would that i

“And I hate you. I hate you so much because  _ I love you. _ ”

“Then stop loving me!”

“I can’t!”

And Ben knows it’s true. Ben knows that Leslie simply cannot stop loving something because when she loves something she loves it  _ hard.  _ Even though he knows all of this he still hears himself screaming back anyways.

“Get out.”

He can see her face drop and the rough trails of tears on her face and although she falters, she doesn’t take long to build herself back up again because when Leslie goes down, she’s never down for long.

“Go to hell.”

Ben scoffs and Leslie turns from where she’s walking away to stare at him again. She narrows her eyes and shakes her head, exasperation evident on her face. She speaks up despite him telling her to leave.

“Look, I’m sorry that I brought this on you, ‘cause I know how much you hate it when I’m happy.”

Ben shakes his head this time, letting out a deep breath and begins to protest her, “Oh, that is such a load—”

She cuts him off, “Admit it. You’re happiest when I’m miserable because then you don’t have to look at how miserable you are.”

She’s right. God, why is she always right.

“Shut up, Leslie.”

She continues anyways, “But I’m not going to be miserable for you when I can’t even handle my own.”

He can’t stop. Why can’t he stop. He wants to hold her and tell her he’s sorry, but he doesn’t. He can’t even look at her anymore because he’s so,  _ so  _ broken. He knows his face is red because he’s crying now, too. And it takes everything in him to not yell at her to leave again. He begins walking away when he hears her speak up again, softer than the yelling before. 

“I love you.”

He looks back at her and swipes a tear away roughly. “It’ll pass.”


	2. the empire strikes back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Leslie finding out that they're a lot more like Han and Leia then they would think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dedicated to the lovely @amegdala since we both love these idiot couples so much

Ben and Leslie had been snuggled close together on the couch for the past hour with Leslie reading a book and Ben rewatching _The Empire Strikes Back._

Leslie would glance up every now-and-then when Ben would halt his mindless circles on her arm because he would be focusing on however the Rebellion was currently losing some battle thing, okay she honestly had no idea what was going on. 

But once things got a little less tense he would begin the circles again and hug her tighter. After watching Ben for a while she realized that he would grip onto her tighter anytime Han and Leia would make an appearance and have a small moment together. As if he was reading her mind, he began talking about the onscreen couple.

“You know, I just really love Han and Leia’s relationship.”

Without really looking up from her book Leslie replied half amused, “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

Ben paused for a second, seemingly gathering his thoughts, “Well,” right as he began Leia had told Han he loved her right before being frozen in carbonite on the screen and Ben gestured wildly to the screen, “Well, see! There’s that! They were both so in love with each other without really confirming anything before.”

Leslie nodded her head, beckoning him to continue. “And Leia, well, she _never_ takes no for an answer. _Never._ And if she ever is told no, she _will_ take matters into her own hands.” Ben took a deep breath and continued as he seemed to gather more thoughts as he went on, “Leia is also supposed to do this “right thing” and marry some nice diplomat of equal status, which she never does by the way, while Han isn’t supposed to care about anyone but himself. Then, even though he found himself in love with Leia, he also found a new family with Leia, Luke, hell, even 3-PO and R2.”

“Also, Leia is totally bossy in the streets but sub in the sheets.”

Leslie burst into fits of laughter after Ben had finished and even had him join in on it. Ben finally spoke up again as Leslie was pushing away the tears, “Was it the sub line?” Leslie choked back another laugh before speaking up, “No, no, well yes, but you do realize what you described is literally our relationship, right?”

As Ben’s confusion grew Leslie decided to explain behind another few bursts of laughter, “First off, you said they were both in love without confirming anything, right?” Ben nodded his head but his brows were still drawn together, “Well, when did you first start loving me?”

“When you called me a jerk.”

“Right, yes, and we’d known each other, what, less than an hour?”

“What does this have to do with anything? 

“Well, I really, truly, loved you when you said you might be leaving Pawnee.” Ben smiled at that but let her continue, “But there was nothing confirmed yet. We hadn’t even kissed yet, we didn’t even know that we both loved the wildflower mural!”

“Okay, okay, this makes sense but what about—” Ben cut himself off, “Oh my god, we’re totally like them.” Leslie laughed and shook her head, “Yep. I’m a total hardass and will never take no for an answer—”

“And if you want anything, you can get it yourself.”

“Also, the thing about Leia doing the right thing? My “right thing” was running for City Council and _not_ having a scandal with my boss,” Leslie smiled and rubbed the side of Ben’s face. Best scandal ever, though.

“Now Han on the other hand,” Ben pointed his finger at Leslie, “he wasn’t supposed to care about anyone but himself. That one is a given, me coming into these towns and hacking budgets away.”

“Mean Ben.” Ben laughed as Leslie scrunched her nose playfully, both remembering the obviously fond nickname. Leslie’s voice turned soft though as she described the next part, “And even though you found yourself in love with me, you also found a new family with the whole Parks Department.” The look on Ben’s face turned soft as he pushed a piece of hair behind Leslie’s ear.

“I love you.”

“I know.”

“Good lord. You did _not_ just Han Solo me.”

“I absolutely did, Wyatt. What are you gonna do about it?”

“We’re going to test the fact that you are also like Leia when it comes to being bossy in the streets and—”

“Oh my god!”


	3. snow globe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben gives Leslie a snow globe to commemorate their “getting back together” anniversary.
> 
> Prompt requested by Mandy (@evansdotmandy)

“You know, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually checked out that snow globe museum you recommended, and it was pretty awesome, I have to say.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, I did get in trouble for shaking one…”

“Yeah, I’m not allowed there anymore.”

Sometimes, when Ben is a little too drunk and a little too sad and the water is a little too high in his “sad bath,” he’d think about how deep he went to show Leslie he cared for her without saying it bluntly. 

For God’s sake, he went to a _snow globe museum._ Sure, he actually did enjoy himself and the worker looked a little too familiar, but he still thought that he would go even if he didn’t enjoy it. Honestly, he thought he’d do anything for Leslie Knope. 

And he did. He gave up everything that he’d ever cared about so that Leslie could live out her dreams because even if he couldn’t admit it, he loved her. 

He wished he could just say screw it.

…

“We could just say ‘screw it’ and do this thing for real.”

“What?”

“I miss you like crazy. I think about you all the time. I want to be with you. So, let’s just say ‘screw it.’”

And he did. Over and over and over again that night. Almost like a mantra. Because he was _praying_ for this. Praying one day he’d be able to hold Leslie close again and kiss her goodnight. He was almost afraid it wasn’t ever going to happen again.

He was afraid he lost her for real.

…

“I got you something.”

“Oh God, you’re not going to tell _me_ to go run off to Washington are you?”

“Good lord, no.” Ben shook his head as he reached to pull out a box from his desk. Leslie drew her brows together, but still seemed intrigued.

The box was a lot larger than the one used for all of their other large moments, so it confused Leslie even more than before.

“Let me open it for you.”

Ben opened the box and inside contained a snow globe with a small park including a bench and two people standing in front of it, one with a bright red coat, helping reveal the already obvious scene.

“Oh my god.” Leslie’s eyes immediately filled with tears and she placed both hands on her heart delicately.

“Happy _The Day We Got Back Together_ Anniversary.” Ben smiled, eyes also slightly brimming with tears. 

Leslie held it for a moment and flipped it over to see the snowfall on the both of them. After watching until all of the snow fell she looked up at Ben wide-eyed.

“I didn’t get you anything!”

Ben smiled again, already expecting Leslie to have reacted this way, “That’s alright. You risked a lot this time last year, this is the least I can do to repay you.” Leslie's eyes softened again and she leaned in to give Ben a soft kiss. Ben pulled away when he felt the wetness on Leslie’s cheeks. He kissed the tears away delicately and reveled in the way her eyelashes brushed against his face because this pure sun goddess of a woman was actually sitting in front of him and he could love her harder than he did before.

“Can we go to the snow globe museum?”

“Aren’t you still banned?”

“Sneak me in?”


	4. roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben receives a dozen roses from Leslie but he realizes there's actually only eleven.
> 
> Prompt requested by Mandy (@evansdotmandy)

Ben sunk back down into his chair after finishing the rest of an email he had prepared for Jen Barkley the week before. He had only been in Washington for two months and even though he loved the work, he missed home more than anything. Well, really, he missed Leslie more than anything.

He glanced at the time quickly to see that it was already past 6 and he should be heading home soon. As he was grabbing his bag and jacket there was a small knock on his office door.

“Hi. I think your lover Chris sent you something.” Ben rolled his eyes at April, as this wasn’t the first time she’s said Chris was  _ his lover.  _ Before he said anything April was already speaking again, “She sent you a dozen roses but there’s one missing so maybe you aren’t meant to be if she can’t do math.” Ben was already heading out the door and shaking his head but appreciated the correction to  _ she  _ for Leslie. 

“Where are they at?”

“By the front door. I’m leaving now, bye.”

Ben nodded half-absently in April’s direction but had already diverted his attention to the red roses. He counted again just to make sure April wasn’t messing with him and for once she was actually right. There were only eleven which Ben found quite weird for Leslie. He quickly typed out a quick message to send her.

_ Hey babe, thanks for the roses, but I noticed there’s only eleven and no note?  _

Before hitting send Ben scrolled up in their conversation history to see that Leslie hadn’t been answering any of his texts all day. 

_ Also, I hope you’re safe, you haven’t answered any of my texts today. I love you.  _

Ben picked up the bouquet of roses and carried the rest of his things to his car to head back to his temporary apartment.

While driving, he seemed to get more and more worried about Leslie because knowing her, she would’ve sent back dozens of texts by now. He probably shouldn’t be worrying about it, he knew she’d been having a busy week and she’s probably just trying to catch up on some work. He pushed it away for now and decided that if she didn’t answer soon then he would call Ann. 

He arrived at his apartment not too long after and as he was getting the keys out of his bag he swore he heard the faintest  _ Let’s Stay Together  _ by Al Green. It began getting louder as he reached his door and before trying the keys he clicked the door handle to find it already unlocked.

Much to his surprise, as he walked in he found Leslie standing with her hair in a loose ponytail and casual clothes, but in her hands was a rose that matched the rest of the bouquet he was still currently holding.

Ben tilted his head slightly and his mouth turned into a soft smile. “Hey.”

Leslie smiled back brightly, “Hi.”

He sat all of his things down on the table sitting beside his front door and reached out to hold Leslie. “I missed you.” She giggled and kissed the side of his head before pulling back and reaching the rose out to him. “This is for you.”

“Ah, the missing rose.” But when Ben reached his hands out, he completely missed the rose and moved to kiss Leslie instead. Leslie was shocked at first but soon melted into it. She dropped the rose on the ground and reached her arms around Ben’s neck while his traveled up her back until he finally planted them on her waist. 

He pulled away reluctantly to hold her face in his hands to admire her for a second. Leslie smiled and kissed him quickly, “I’m sorry I didn’t answer your texts earlier.”

“That’s alright. God, I missed you.”

“I missed you too. I also missed  _ this, _ ” Leslie’s arm had fallen and her hand rested across his butt.

All Ben could do was sigh and mutter a small,  _ good lord.  _ Leslie cackled and bent over to pick up the rose. Ben held Leslie's wrist and brought her back to him. “You’re so beautiful, you’re like, a flower.”

“I love you.”


End file.
